Another Worst Musical Number

None of the musical numbers selected for this year's musical countdown till BIFF are from films selected for this year's festival. One of the musicals that was screened by the planning committee was "From Justin to Kelly" (2003). This film was set during a spring break at Fort Lauderdale, FL. A singing waitress from Texas, Kelly Taylor (Played by Kelly Clarkson), falls for a Pennsylvania college student, Justin Bell (Justin Guarini).

The fantasy song "Wish Upon A Star" was sung by Katherine Bailess whose character in the movie was Alexa, Kelly's jealous friend who tried to keep her from meeting Justin. The number won a Razzie (Golden Raspberry Award) for worst choreography (In 2005, the musical won a Razzie for the Worst Musical of our first 25 Years).

An American Idol marketing ploy, FJTK was definitely in the running for 2013's "Bad, Bizzare and 'B'" lineup. It combined the worst of teen beach movies thrown together with the heavy-handed influence of Reality TV (Clarkson and Guarini were champ and runner-up in Season One), along with a musical. The film packaged cheesy songs strung together with a thin plot and sloppy dance choreography - - the results were slammed by the critics and tanked at the box office. Rated 1.9 of 10 at the Internet Movie Database (IMBD) and an 8% at Rotten Tomatoes. Clarkson explained her participation to Time Magazine with the phrase 'contractually obligated."

Running a close second for this week's choice was the ensemble dance number "The Bounce."

Lyrics to Wish Upon A Star by Lucie Silvas, Ben Chapman and Martin Harrington:

I'm gonna wish upon a star

The boys are bad, The boys are good

They would all love me if only they could

It's only play and only pretend

'Cause I can see through all those men now

Who am I supposed to be?

A girl who stays at home alone?

No, baby needs a fantasy

Someone who'll never let me go

Could I be forgiven

For how I want my life to be?

I'm gonna wish upon a star

I wanna go a little too far

Need a little love to get me by

Let's start with you and I

I'm gonna wish upon a star

Do you think I’m going too far

Need a little trouble to get me by

Let's start with you and I

I misbehave, night and day

I’m never gonna stop being this way

You know I’d never tell a lie to

Playing with fire is what I like to do

Everybody judges me

But it’s just a game I play

So tell me

Who am I supposed to be

What I want or what they see

Could I be forgiven

Just for needing to be me?

I'm gonna wish upon a star

I wanna go a little too far?

Need a little love to get me by

Let's start with you and I

I’m gonna wish upon a star

Don’t you think I’m going to far

Need a little trouble to get me by

Let’s start with you and I

Da dum

If you like what you'll see

Think you’ll get over me

Then gonna have it my way

So you better watch out

And you should have no doubt

I don't care what people say

I'm gonna wish upon a star

Need a little love to get me by

I'm gonna wish upon a star

I wanna go a little too far

Need a little love to get me by

Let's start with you and I

I'm gonna wish upon a star

Do you think I'm going too far

Need a little trouble to get me by

Let's start with you and I (you and I)

I'm gonna wish upon a star

I wanna go a little too far

Need a little love to get me by

Let's start with you and I

I'm gonna wish upon a star

Don't you think I'm going too far

Need a little trouble to get me by

Let's start with you and I (you and I)

This Week's Best Tune

What is generally considered the most popular musical of the Sixties; the movie (1965) that saved 20th Century Fox studios? Hint: the film won the 38th Oscars' Best Picture award. It featured music and lyrics from Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II. It was adapted for the screen from a successful 1959 stage musical about the singing Von Trapp family (Oscar Hammerstein died shortly after the stage musical opened on Broadway, before the film was made). The iconic opening featured long range camera images that soared over a view of the Austrian Alps (They were taken from a swooping helicopter). Julie Andrews with arms extended whirled on a lush hilltop and sang the title song "The hills are alive with the sound of music . . ."

That song is ranked number ten on AFI's (American Film Institute) list of the top 100 songs in American cinema. The Sound of Music continued with many other great song standards sung by Maria ("Sixteen Going on Seventeen"), the Mother Superior ("Climb Every Mountain"), the Von Trapp children ("My Favorite Things" and "Do Re Mi Fa") and their Navy Captain father ("Edelweiss").

A native Austrian in our family thinks the American obsession with this musical is a bit odd - the music, the story, and Sound of Music Tours to her country. Cheers Andrea (8-).

Lyrics by Rogers and Hammerstein:

The hills are alive with the sound of music

With songs they have sung for a thousand years

The hills fill my heart with the sound of music

My heart wants to sing every song it hears

My heart wants to beat like the wings of the birds

that rise from the lake to the trees

My heart wants to sigh like a chime that flies

from a church on a breeze

To laugh like a brook when it trips and falls over

stones on its way

To sing through the night like a lark who is learning to pray

I go to the hills when my heart is lonely

I know I will hear what I've heard before

My heart will be blessed with the sound of music

And I'll sing once more

Another "Worst Musical Number' in a Film

If we say that Sylvester Stalone is the singer - - is that enough? 

In Rhinestone, the 1984 comedy film with musical numbers, Stalone played a New York cabbie (Nick Martinelli). Jake Farris (Played by Dolly Parton) has bet that she can turn any normal guy into a country singer. That's where Sly Stalone came in . . . So check out his performance singing "Drinkenstein."

Other Stalone songs in the movie were "Stay Out of My Bedroom" and "Sweet Lovin Friends" - both tunes sung with Dolly.

Rhinestone the musical had a very short run in theaters and was panned by most critics. Despite being a commercial flop, Dolly Parton gained two top ten country hits with "Tennessee Homesick Blues" and "God Won't Get You."

Lyrics to "Drinkenstein" written by Dolly Parton:

Budweiser you've created a monster

And they call him Drinkenstein

And the tavern down the street is the labba-tor-eye-ee

Where he makes the transformation all the time

And a stein of Dr. Bud is a pint of monster blood

And it does effect me different every time

Budweiser you've created a monster

And they call me Drinkenstein

And they call me Drinkenstein

I'm Drinkenstein

I'm Drinkenstien

(Additional Lyrics)

But he's a good old boy at heart as so many of them are

But when he's drinking, well that's something else again

Well you can sneak on out and leave, or you can sit and just agree

Or you can cross him if you want your face knocked in

'Cause he will hit ya as apt as not

And he can hurt ya, I swear to God

He's Drinkenstein

But every night's a different mood

There is a fun side to him, too

He loves to laugh, he love to joke, and he loves to dance

But watch your girlfriends and your wives

He'll steal 'em right before your eyes

'Cause he's a lover, so don't give him half the chance

'Cause he can do it, don't think he can't

'Cause women like him, 'cause he's strange

He's Drinkenstein

Budweiser you've created a monster 

And they call him Drinkenstein

And the tavern down the street is the labba-tor-eye-ee

Where he makes that transformation all the time

And a stein of Dr. Bud is just a pint of monster blood

And it does effect him different every time

Budweiser you've created a monster

And they call him Drinkenstein

And they call him Drinkenstein

Yeah!

He is foolish, the beer is fine

He's just ghoulish, he's Drinkenstein

Now he will say it if he thinks it

And it will change him if he drinks it

I'm Drinkenstein, you're Drinkenstein

She's Drinkenstein, we're all Drinkenstein

Drinkenstein, Drinkenstein, we're Drinkenstein

Oooooh, yeah!